ABRAHAM "ABE" ZIMMER

Real Name: Abraham "Abe" Paul Zimmer

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Director of Stark Enterprises Engineering Division, senior member of Stark Enterprises board of directors, trustee of Tony Stark's corporate assets, chief of Stark Enterprises security operations;
former director of Accutech Corporation's Computer Engineering team, business owner, research scientist, engineer, inventor

Group Membership: Stark Enterprises;
formerly Accutech

Affiliations: Avengers West Coast (Dr. Pym, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Living Lightning, Wasp), Bambi Arbogast, Becker, Veronica Benning, Bethany Cabe, Kathy Dare, Roxy Gilbert, Philip Grant, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts Hogan, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Iron Man (alternate teenage Tony Stark), Joe, Rae LaCoste, Eddie March, Marvin Minsky, Natassia, Mike O'Brien, Gilbert O'Conner, Felix Palmer, Peterson, Recorder, Reg, Erica Sondheim, Carl Walker, War Machine (James Rhodes), Winston, Ms. Wu

Enemies: AIM, Beetle (Abner Jenkins), Blizzard (Donnie Gill), Brass, Calico, Ghost, Grey Gargoyle, Raven, Spymaster (Nathan Lemon), Morgan Stark, Ultimo, Vor/Tex, Whiplash (Marc Scarlotti)

Known Relatives: Senator Joseph Abel Zimmer (brother)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: California

First Appearance: Iron Man I#219 (June, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: Abraham Zimmer was a talented inventor, engineer, technician, and computer expert.

History:

(Iron Man I#300/2 (fb) - BTS) - Talented computer technician and inventor Abe Zimmer, an active smoker nearing 65, became well known for being "a leading light in the field of 'intelligent' computer systems design... [and for] his pioneering work during the 1970s alongside Professor Marvin Minsky at M IT, birthplace of the first important work in Artificial Intelligence."

(Iron Man I#219 (fb) - BTS) - Zimmer once owned his own company until a crucial file went missing. He blamed the loss on the criminal Ghost, who most executives thought was only a myth. Due to his storied experience in the field, and despite his nearing retirement, Zimmer was hired by Accutech, a research company known for its state-of-the-art labs, prime access real estate, and exclusive patents in medical laser and beta particle technology. When strange attacks started happening around Accutech just as the company was seeking to sell, Zimmer blamed the Ghost, though others, such as Gilbert O'Conner, disbelieved him.

(Iron Man I#219) - Tony Stark, of Stark Enterprises, was due to attend a meeting at Accutech to decide whether or not to buy when a strange brushfire surrounded Accutech. After Stark's bodyguard Iron Man (secretly Stark himself) put the fire out, Stark attended the meeting with Zimmer, O'Conner, and others. O'Conner discussed their potential Beta Particle Generator, an alternative energy source that hadn't worked due to insufficient transfer links, Zimmer voiced his concerns about the Ghost and O'Conner abruptly ended the meeting. That night, Zimmer stayed late to install a new program for the database when the system deleted itself and a warning message from the Ghost on his screen. The next day, Iron Man ended up fighting the Ghost, who managed to escape. Iron Man promised Zimmer, on behalf of Stark, that he would always have an available job at Stark Enterprises.

(Iron Man I#300/2 (fb) - BTS) - Zimmer became the director of Accutech Corporation's Computer Engineering team when Stark purchased Accutech.

(Iron Man I#225) - At Accutech Research and Development, Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes arrived to ask Zimmer for help against Justin Hammer. Stark warned that this assignment may not be legal, but Zimmer agreed to help without hesitation. Stark asked Zimmer to run a program that would break into Hammer's computers and retrieve a particular file. Zimmer requested that Stark enlist a trustworthy electronics specialist, so the trio soon flew to the home of Scott Lang, where they met his daughter Cassie. After turning down Cassie's offered burrito pudding, Stark explained the mission to Lang, who agreed to help. Zimmer and Rhodes watched the computer as Lang (as Ant-Man) and Stark (as Iron Man) aided from afar. With the appropriate distractions in place, Zimmer was able to pull the file needed, which would show all those of Hammer's employees who were using Stark technology. Zimmer pulled a list and gave it over to Stark, making sure that Lang was commended for his work.

(Iron Man I#226) - Zimmer called Stark needing to talk to him immediately. Stark and Rhodes arrived at Accutech soon and Zimmer gave him information about a glitch that had left some of the names off the armor list. Zimmer then left Stark alone to do his work. Rhodes helped Iron Man (Tony Stark) sneak into the prison, where he flooded the chambers with PC-2 gas, knocking out the attendants and most of the inmates. The Guardsmen armor automatically registered the invasion and with eye slits closed and interior atmosphere activated, had 30 minutes to find the culprit. Rhodes deactivated all the spare sets of armor, though one Guardsman discovered him and attacked. Meanwhile, Baker and three other Guardsmen attacked Iron Man. Iron Man managed to hit Baker with a negator pack, disabling his armor, then he knocked out the other three with a powerful blast and negated theirs as well.

(Iron Man I#229 - BTS) - Stark assigned Zimmer to work on a special project that would wipe out knowledge of Stark's technology from the world's computers.

(Iron Man I#230) - Zimmer contacted Stark and Rhodes, with apple juice ready for toasting, to show them the completed tapeworm he'd created. He explained that this computer program would go on a continual loop through the world's computers, except Stark's, to destroy Stark's technology secrets. Stark was pleased.

(Iron Man I#236) - Zimmer researched artist Paul St. Pierre (secretly the Grey Gargoyle) for Stark.

(Iron Man I#239) - Zimmer researched the company Electronica Fabrizza for Stark, learning that it was a front operation for a mysterious owner. He reported this information to Stark, connected to him by Bambi Arbogast.

(Iron Man I#246) - Zimmer was asked by Stark to put out a computer virus that would seek out and print information triggered by key words, such as "spinal surgery." Despite the questionable ethics of this, Zimmer agreed to do so. Stark had recently been paralyzed by a shot from his girlfriend Kathy Dare.

(Iron Man I#247) - Zimmer was hard at work as someone tried hacking his program when the priority code he'd set up for Stark went off, alarming Zimmer.

(Iron Man I#248) - Zimmer sent a priority call to Stark, who sent Iron Man to investigate. Zimmer told Iron Man that Cordco had developed a chip that could potentially allow Stark to walk again. Stark later utilized the new chip successfully.

(Iron Man I#300/2 (fb) - BTS) - Stark was appointed as director of Stark's Engineering Division.

(Iron Man I#288/2 (fb) - BTS) - When Stark was infected with a techno-organic parasite that destroyed his nervous system and would eventually kill him, Stark contacted Zimmer and put him in charge of a project to save Stark's life. Stark wanted Zimmer to cryogenically freeze him upon death, then to work with a team of scientists to rewrite Stark's nervous system.

(Iron Man I#281) - Zimmer was skeptical about the project, but promised to get back to him.

(Iron Man I#283) - Zimmer was glad to hear back from Stark. He reported that he'd talked to Peterson in Biotech and that the project was a go, though they'd need an eight week minimum to implement it.

(Iron Man I#284) - Erica Sondheim contacted Zimmer to let him know that Stark had died. Zimmer picked Stark up and put him into full cryogenic suspension.

(Iron Man I#285) - Zimmer attended Stark's funeral alongside many others. When Stark's ashes were spread, Sondheim and Zimmer discussed the lie that the public believed, but Zimmer reminded her that Stark really would be dead if state 2 didn't work. They went to a party at Stark's building alongside Rae LaCoste, Kathy Dare, and others, when the building was attacked by Beetle (Abner Jenkins), Blizzard (Donnie Gill), Spymaster (Nathan Lemon), and Whiplash (Marc Scarlotti). The group was trapped behind automatic security barriers, but Zimmer helped Rhodes, who'd taken over Stark's company, escape, and they were soon rescued by Iron Man (secretly Rhodes).

(Iron Man I#286) - Zimmer stood by while the Avengers West Coast (Dr. Pym, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Living Lightning, Wasp) helped Iron Man wrap up the villains, and as Kathy Dare killed herself with a gunshot to the head. Later, he and Sondheim discussed Dare's sad death, then they were shocked to realize they could detect brainwave activity from Stark's cryogenic unit.

(Iron Man I#287) - Zimmer attended a meeting with other Stark employees to hear Rhodes' plans for the business, then returned to monitoring Stark with Sondheim. Zimmer surmised that Stark's brainwave activity was his mind replaying old memories.

(Iron Man I#288/2) - Zimmer and Sondheim chaired a meeting with the other scientists about their upcoming procedure on Stark. They planned to make the virus into a new central nervous system. Reg from Biotech planned to introduce an artificially-engineered viral transcription that could rewrite the genetic code of the parasite, and Sondheim planned to inject an isolinear cortical interface unit microchip to give them access to programming. Natassia and Joe planned to handle deicing Stark. They met the next morning for the risky procedure and were pleased when the process worked. Stark soon took over the process himself, sending his allies a computerized message to report on his success.

(Iron Man I#289) - Zimmer and Sondheim called Rhodes down to see that Stark was revived, apologizing to Rhodes for their deception. Rhodes was furious and quit.

(Iron Man I#290) - Zimmer designed and delivered a neural-interface CADAM (Computer-Aided Design and Manufacture) teleoperator's rig to the recovering Stark, who could use it to access and operate his automated design and manufacturing facilities. Zimmer gave Stark a warning to use it carefully.

(Iron Man I#294 (fb)) - When the bizarre Technovore attacked a Stark satellite, Zimmer alerted Stark, then discussed how to handle the situation with Winston, Ms. Wu, and Felix Palmer. Stark had Iron Man handle the situation later.

(Iron Man I#296) - Pleased to have Stark back at the head of the company, Zimmer attended a meeting with other Stark employees and watched Stark fire Becker and another for selling nuclear applications to AIM.

(Iron Man I#297) - Zimmer, Sondheim, and Arbogast pretended to be under enemy control and held Stark and Felix Palmer at gunpoint in order to get Stark to attend a welcome back party. Several attended, including Pepper and Happy Hogan, Roxy Gilbert, Eddie March, Bethany Cabe, and Mike O'Brien.

(Iron Man I#298) - Veronica Benning walked in on Zimmer and Sondheim kissing in her office, and quickly excused herself.

(Iron Man I#299/2) - Along with others, including Happy and Pepper Hogan, Zimmer received the news that Stark's nervous system had crashed and that Iron Man had seemingly been destroyed by Ultimo.

(Iron Man I#300) - Zimmer helped streamline some of Iron Man's old armor units so that Rhodes (as War Machine), Happy Hogan, Eddie March, Bethany Cabe, Mike O'Brien, and Carl Walker could take care of Ultimo. Stark later revived.

(Iron Man I#301) - When Stark's systems were hacked and shady projects were exposed to the public, Stark was furious. At a board meeting, he assigned Zimmer to track down the hackers.

(Iron Man I#302) - As Sondheim came to see if Zimmer was ready to leave, Zimmer found the electronic fingerprint of the hacker. He told her that the information would blow Stark Enterprises wide open.

(Marvel Comics Presents I#152/2) - Zimmer received a call from Rhodes and offered to prepare a database access, but Rhodes didn't want to wait.

(Iron Man I#304) - Zimmer met with Stark and Palmer, telling them that a hacker named Raven was responsible. Though Stark wondered how Zimmer could identify one hacker, Zimmer confessed that he kept up on all the current hackers and was sure this one was Raven. Stark called Bethany Cabe to investigate and she told him about Gammagate, a dangerous program with Gamma bombs being utilized. At Stark's request, Zimmer helped focus a particular suit of armor for Stark that could withstand Gamma radiation and shipped it to Arizona.

(Iron Man I#305) - Zimmer offered to go with Cabe after the hacker, but Sondheim worried for him and wanted him to remain behind. Cabe settled the argument by heading out alone.

(Iron Man I#306) - Cabe brought back the hacker (Philip Grant) for questioning and Zimmer ended up convincing Stark to hire him, giving him a second chance as he had Zimmer. Stark told Zimmer that Grant was his responsibility and that he was to keep grant busy.

(Iron Man Annual I#15/2) - Stark, Zimmer, and Grant were trying to figure out who was gaining outside access to his computer and artificial nervous system. Stark ordered Zimmer to create an interface to the nervous system.

(Iron Man I#307) - Zimmer and Grant helped create and operate a machine that allowed Stark to project his consciousness into cyberspace, in order for Stark to investigate recent cyberspace-linked sabotage of his systems. The villain, Vor/Tex, took possession of Stark's body and left Stark's mind stranded in cyberspace, though the others didn't know.

(Iron Man I#308) - Though Zimmer was fooled, Grant suspected Stark's possession and helped the real Stark when Vor/Tex went on a rampage as Iron Man.

(Iron Man I#310) - Zimmer, with others, watched a battle between Iron Man and War Machine.

(Force Works#8) - Zimmer attended a holiday party of Stark's alongside several of Clark's allies. He was fascinated by the alien Recorder, who was recording messages from the guests.

(Iron Man I#318) - Zimmer attended a meeting with others where Stark wanted to convey how much he cared for his friends. Zimmer laughed that he knew Stark wasn't perfect.

(Iron Man I#319) - Though he had reservations about the project, Zimmer attended Stark's dedication of the new Starcorps Command station.

(Iron Man I#327) - When Tony Stark was seemingly killed and replaced by an alternate dimension teenage counterpart to himself, Zimmer and his allies were saddened. Zimmer attended the reading of Stark's will alongside several others, including Edwin Jarvis and Franklin "Foggy" Nelson. They watched a video of Stark reading his will, and Zimmer learned that he and Arbogast had been appointed senior members of Stark Enterprises board of directors and trustees of his corporate assets.

(Iron Man I#328) - Along with Stark's other close allies, Zimmer attended a meeting to discuss a corporate takeover by Yu Kirin, of the Fujikawa company. They met Kirin after discussing all of the company's responsibilities.

(Iron Man I#329) - The board signed over Stark Enterprises to Fujikawa, and Kirin gave them 48 hours to clear out all non-essential personnel. Zimmer agreed to use his remaining hours on security clearance to complete a special task, to clear out all of Stark's Iron Man armors.

(Iron Man I#330) - Donning a Stark stealth-field suit and carrying a single-shot taser, Zimmer snuck into Stark's private labs. Just as he was corresponding with Rhodes and the teenage Stark, he was attacked by a camouflaged Calico, who slashed Zimmer across the eyes and planned to kill him. He managed to fire his taser, activating the lights in the complex with a power surge. Just as Calico was ready to kill him, Zimmer grabbed a live wire and the suit conducted the charge through him, killing Calico. He was then attacked by the armored Brass (controlled from afar by Morgan Stark), who hit Zimmer hard, knocking him through a window. Young Stark, in Iron Man armor, tried saving Zimmer with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but Zimmer was too far gone and quickly died.

Comments: Created by David Michelinie and Bob Layton.

Marvin Minsky is a real guy! Learn about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Minsky

Special thanks to Sean McQuaid and Prime Eternal for their help with a few issues.

Senator Zimmer's first name Abel was revealed in Abraham Zimmer's profile in All-New Iron Manual and Joseph in Abe's updated profile in OHotMU A-Z HC#14.

Profile by Chadman.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Abe Zimmer has no known connections to

• R. Zimm, of Stark International @ Iron Man: The Inevitable#3
• or any other "Zimmer" characters

images: (without ads)
Iron Man I#219, p23, pan3 (main)